Chapter 24 The Witch’s Summons
The forest changed the moment they crossed the northern ridge.
It wasn’t dramatic.
Not thunder or lightning.
Not shadows crawling across the ground.
Just… silence.
A deep, unnatural stillness that pressed against Lina’s skin like cold fingers.
Kael felt it too.
His wolf rose instantly, the air around him sharpening with tension.
“We’re in their territory,” Lina murmured.
Kael didn’t loosen his grip on her hand. “Stay close.”
Riven and Yara followed behind, each scanning the trees with weapons drawn. The air smelled different here — older, like moss and ancient stone and magic buried beneath centuries of roots.
“This way,” Lina whispered.
The witches didn’t usually give directions — they didn’t need to. Their call pulled at her magic like a thread, leading her deeper into the forest.
Kael matched her pace silently, though his jaw was tight.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
“No,” he said honestly. “But I’ll manage.”
Her chest tightened.
They walked until the trees grew taller, wider — thick trunks spiraling up into the sky, their branches arching so high they almost blocked out the sun.
Then the forest opened into a clearing.
And the witches were waiting.
A circle of thirteen women — all dressed in silver-threaded black, their hair braided with feathers and bone. Their eyes glowed faintly green beneath the shadows of their hoods.
The leader stepped forward.
She was older than the rest, hair snow-white, her voice deep as earth shifting.
“Valerius child,” she said. “After three centuries, you return to us.”
Kael stepped in front of Lina instantly.
“Approach her again,” he growled, “and I’ll rip the ground open beneath your feet.”
Yara whispered, “Kael, maybe don’t threaten the witches on their own lawn—”
The elder witch smiled. “Alpha. Your bond is loud.”
Kael stiffened. “We’re not here to discuss my bond. We’re here for answers.”
“Oh, you will have them.”
Her eyes shifted to Lina.
“All of you will.”
Lina stepped toward the circle — Kael right behind her like a shadow.
“Why did you summon me?” she asked.
The witches exchanged a long, heavy glance.
The elder woman spoke.
“Because the Veil cracks.
Because the shadows stir.
Because the creature beyond has spoken your name.”
Lina felt her breath catch.
“You know about that?” she whispered.
“We know everything the Veil whispers,” the witch said. “And this time, it whispered loudly.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“Tell us. What did it say to you?”
Kael bristled. “She’s not answering your questions until we know your purpose.”
The elder witch didn’t get angry.
She simply lifted her hand — and the entire clearing shifted.
The trees bent inward.
The air grew thick.
Magic snapped tight around them like a net.
Lina grabbed Kael’s arm. “Don’t.”
Kael snarled. “Release it.”
“Calm your wolf, Alpha,” the elder witch said. “If we wanted harm, your heart would’ve stopped beating when you entered our forest.”
Kael’s anger flared like sparks across dry grass.
But Lina placed a hand gently on his chest.
“Kael,” she whispered. “Let me talk.”
His breathing slowed.
His eyes softened.
But he didn’t move away.
Lina stepped forward, her voice steady.
“It said, ‘Found you.’
And later… ‘Come home.’”
The witches murmured among themselves.
The elder witch nodded slowly. “Yes. As we feared.”
Kael growled, “Feared what?”
“That the creature remembers the Valerius line,” the elder said. “And seeks to reclaim what the forest once took from it.”
Lina’s blood chilled. “Reclaim? What do you mean?”
The witch stepped closer — slow, reverent, as though approaching something sacred.
“Three centuries ago,” she said softly, “your ancestors sealed away a breach that should never have existed. They locked the creature behind the Veil. It was Valerius blood that sealed it.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“And it is Valerius blood that can open it again.”
Kael froze.
“No,” he said immediately. “Absolutely not.”
The elder witch tilted her head. “Your bond speaks loud, Alpha. Your fear. Your protectiveness. Your… attachment.”
Kael didn’t deny it.
Lina stepped beside him. “What does it want with me?”
The witch’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“It wants to come through you.”
Lina swayed. Kael caught her instantly, arm firm around her waist.
“What does that mean?” he demanded.
The elder woman continued:
“You are the last living Valerius. The last key. The Veil calls to its key as it weakens. The creature calls to its key as well.”
Lina’s heart pounded in her ears. “I’m a door?”
“No,” the witch corrected. “You are a lock. And a lock without a guardian eventually breaks.”
Kael pulled Lina behind him again. “Then teach us how to strengthen the lock.”
All thirteen witches stared at them.
“You cannot strengthen it here,” the elder said.
Kael’s voice hardened. “Then where?”
The elder raised her hand.
The forest floor shifted — revealing a swirling mark, a sigil Lina hadn’t seen in centuries.
The Valerius crest.
“Deep within the old lands,” she said. “Where your family died. Where the pact was made.”
Lina’s breath caught.
Kael looked at her instantly. “You don’t go anywhere alone.”
Lina placed a hand on his arm. “I wasn’t planning to.”
The elder witch’s gaze moved between them, unreadable.
“If you go there,” she warned, “the creature will sense you. It will reach. It will test. It will try to claim you.”
Kael stepped forward, wolf rising.
“And I will be there to stop it.”
All thirteen witches went silent.
Then — for the first time — the elder witch smiled.
A soft, knowing smile.
“Good,” she said.
“Because without him, you will not survive it.”
Lina felt heat flush her cheeks.
Kael didn’t react outwardly — but she felt his fingers brush hers, warm and reassuring.
The elder witch raised her staff.
“You have three days. At dawn on the fourth, the Veil tremor will peak. After that, it may be too late.”
Lina swallowed. “We’ll go.”
Kael squeezed her hand. “We’ll go together.”
The witches stepped back into the shadows, disappearing between the trees as though they had never been there.
Riven exhaled loudly. “Well. That wasn’t ominous at all.”
Yara elbowed him. “Come on. We need supplies.”
Kael turned to Lina.
His voice was soft.
Determined.
Full of something fierce and unspoken.
“We’re going to your homeland,” he said.
Lina nodded slowly, heart tight. “Yes.”
“And whatever waits there,” Kael murmured, “we face it side by side.”
Her pulse quickened.
His thumb brushed her hand, subtle but full of promise.
Together.
For the first time in centuries, Lina felt the faint spark of hope.